The chairman of the City Council Zoning Committee says Wal-Mart's proposal for a new South Side store is still likely to face a vote in his committee.
That's despite rumors of parliamentary hijinks that could send the project to the full City Council without a Zoning Committee vote.
The zoning chairman, Alderman Danny Solis, says he delayed today's scheduled vote on the project after requests from Wal-Mart representatives and Alderman Anthony Beale, whose ward would be home to the new store.
Solis, a Wal-Mart supporter, says bypassing the committee would be a poor strategy for the project's allies.
An alderman can propose to suspend the rules and bring an ordinance to the full council. But the full council then would have to both approve a suspension of the rules and also vote yes on the ordinance itself.
“The votes are too tight,” Solis says. “Even if enough people support in the full council support Wal-Mart, they are not enough people who would support suspending a rules.
The store faces heavy opposition from the Chicago Federation of Labor and aldermen with strong ties to labor.
“We are puzzled by the decision to postpone the Zoning Committee vote on the proposed Wal-Mart development in Pullman,” said CFL Secretary-Treasurer Jorge Ramirez in a statement after the delay was announced. “Postponing the vote does nothing to bring Wal-Mart back to discuss residents’ concerns about wages and community relations.”
Solis says the extra time might allow Wal-Mart and developer Park Bank Initiatives to better understand concerns of Zoning Committee members.
Wal-Mart spokesman Steven Restivo says his store would be open to speaking with the CFL again, but that no meeting has been scheduled.
“This is not about Wal-Mart versus the unions,” Restivo says. “It is about residents on the south side with 30 percent unemployment rates in their neighborhood who don’t have a place for healthy groceries.”